Cactus Game Design Message Boards

There have been many attempts to create a digital Redemption game, however the game itself simply doesn't translate well due to its rule structure; it's an extremely difficult game to program and would likely need to be completely overhauled.

That, and the game doesn't currently have enough players to justify the cost of creating a digital version.

I've tried Lackey and I got lost and I've actually never heard of Untap. Definitely disappointing that it'd need to be overhauled and that there's a lack of enough players. As a dad with 2 toddlers, digital versions have been a blessing.

It may always be an impossible venture, but it got me thinking about the possibility enough that I thought I would Necropost with this question...
    ...if Redemption couldn't be directly translated into an app, but would still be possible to make something close to it or vaguely familiar to players?

My $0.02 for what it's worth.

When I first went down the path of creating a Lackey plugin, I just started working on it.  I think this is the case for all of the online projects we have--meaning I don't recall Reth/the folks behind the Table Top Simulator app asking around about whether they should do work to get started with Untap or the Redemption code for TTS. We all just jumped in because we thought it was a good idea and were interested in doing it.  In fact it may have been discouraging to get opinions about whether it is feasible or not before we started.

If your son in interested in creating a Redemption app, he should jump in and try. In the worst case he will learn a ton about game design and coding. In the best case he will be able to give back to the community and have a personal passion project he can add to his portfolio to show to potential employers when he is looking for a job. As a person who has sat on the employer side of the table for numerous developer interviews, I can tell you that having a portfolio of personal projects likes this bumps the candidate way up.

If your son is interested in just chatting about this with someone who has spent some time thinking about and actually building stuff along this line (Lackey plugin, half completed Redemption web app based on the L5R ringteki project), PM me and I can send you my contact info.

Thanks for the input guys! I asked because he asked, and I didn't follow the past attempts or trailblazing that has happened already that closely.  He wants to make games that people will play, and he also wanted to know if buying the Unreal engine for a card game would be a good investment. (Redemption or not, I told him likely is.)

@MJB, he is planning on building a portfolio, and I think he wants it to be a diverse array of game types.  I'm guessing he picked Redemption because of my heavy involvement in the game and my love for it. I'll talk to him about your offer of advice.

@Crashfach, he didn't stick around the game long enough to see its different interactions.  I have I/J starters..to my knowledge K/L doesn't come out until Nationals.

@MJB, he is planning on building a portfolio, and I think he wants it to be a diverse array of game types.

Plus-one to him going down that path. Let him know that it will really helps him stand out when he starts looking for a job. The other thing like this is contributing to an open source project that he is interested in.

An app would be great, but I know a lot of interactions within Redemption make it difficult. Things like optional triggers and negates that can ultimately target a card played 3 cards ago make it a bit more difficult than other games. I would certainly start out small and build from there. The new Israel's Deliverance starter decks (K/L) would be the best place to start.

Simple getting Dominants to work correctly would be a huge step forward.